Implications for practice and research

Women should be counselled that no amount of alcohol consumption during pregnancy can be considered safe, and heavy and binge
drinking specifically can negatively impact child learning and school achievement.

Further research in other populations and addressing the limitations of this study is needed.

Context

Nearly 1 in 10 children may be exposed prenatally to some level of alcohol. Forty years of research has demonstrated a link
between prenatal alcohol exposure and a range of developmental problems in children, many of which impact academic achievement.
Recent research has found that heavy drinking in early and late pregnancy, as well as binge pattern drinking throughout pregnancy,
is associated with deficits in specific academic …